Somewhere in the multiverse, unknown even to most frequent dimension travellers, there existed a small arena. An arena where combatants were warped in, forced to fight, and then sent back with no memory, mental or physical, of any events that took place there.

And this had all been for the amusement and pleasure of a lesser god, who took delight in these battles and watching the chaos ensue. However, this lesser god had been away from the arena for a long time, and it had started to fall into disuse.

One day, he re-entered the upper area of this colloseum, a protected area invisible to the combatants below (as opposed to the stands which would be the middle area). It was from here that he made his decisions on who he was going to bring in and what he was pitting them against.

Today, on his revisit to the arena, he decided to start with four adventurers from around the realms. His decision on these four took much effort - he wanted a somewhat balanced group to start off.

(Okay, the four of you that I picked - Pelm, Siolen, Rikkard, and Intemera - may now enter. For clarification, even though these may sound obvious, you'll be entering the lower area of the arena, and your characters will likely have no clue how the heck they got there.

And sorry for stealing Jak's old intro - it was the best I could think of. As for hexboards, I'll get around to hosting it when all four of you have entered.

And for anyone saying I could have revived the old thread, I didn't want to because it was in the middle of a battle then.)

Rikk stepped in slowly, looking back and forth carefully, rubbing his right arm tatoo with his left hand. He's clearly nervous, not being quite sure what the heck to make of this. Lacking anything better to do, he simply looks back and forth, trying to find people, or someone to talk to.

Pelm looked around herself as well. What the hell? Last she was... she was... Nekogami, she did not even remember. Probably at home, avoiding work, avoiding sleep, avoiding thought, moping around, blasting training undead, the usual. Something like that.

Even so, this was utterly bizarre. She thought it might be a dream, yet few dreams had ever been this vivid. And those that were were her own experiences, not some... freakish building.

She glanced at the other man in the arena, her face seeking some damnable explanation for all this.

Intemera, after falling into this arena, looked around. There were two other people there, and she looked them over before realizing that they weren't preparing to fight her. But she knew that, because this was definitely an arena of some sort, she would have to fight something at some point.

Completely in her element now, she pulled out her trident and waited for the enemy.

Pelm considered this a moment. Among her goings-on with Serias, the apparent return of her vampiric stalker, the complete disappearance of Thorwen (which she actually did not mind, the bastard, but she was being punished for not finding him), being deprived of money, food, and sleep, the fact that she had blasted three people in the last month without even meaning or wanting to, the reemergence of Shal and the overwhelming number of cat-hating idiots inhabiting Doma at present, things had not been going so well for the little Finan.

Siolen blinked for several moments upon her arrival at the collosseum. What in the gods' names was going on here? Just a few short moments ago, she'd been arranging a shipment of silks back to Doma from Nekonia. Now... Now, she had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to like this place.

From the looks of the people around her, they were as in the dark as she was, which at least told her she had some company in adversity. For all the good that did...

(Zem: If the timing of this in relation to the war is that necessary, then I shall say it's after. As will be the rest of these.)

The deity looked upon those he had summoned with a bit of amusement. The fact that his choices somewhat knew each other - at least a couple of them did - was something he was a tad worried about. However, not worried enough for the beings he intended.

As he willed it, three strange creatures were suddenly whisked into the arena. Creatures which could have looked like lion nekojin, if it weren't for their hawk-like and feather-covered faces, their lack of tails, their feathery shoulders, or their hawk-like wings. As it stood, they were most comparable to walking griffons.

The deity let himself be heard by the groups.

"Adventurers! A trial stands before you. Do not concern yourself with what this place is, for the trial is far more pressing. Take care of your enemy and I may spare you."

As if having heard the same voice, the griffon-creatures took fighting stances.

(OOC: Combat officially begins. Link to the hexboard is here, along with everyone's position.

Pelm quirked an eyebrow as she heard the voice. A trial, he said... so they were being... tested? Or were those... things being tested? She could not say, but one thing she did know. "Taking care" of these things probably would not involve birdseed. Or catnip.

It would probably involve sticking many pointy things through their guts, with a healthy addition of a beam spell or two. Well, this was no time for inaction or philanderophomizing... or whatever Master had called it. Before her mind had even processed the concept of fighting, her body, acting with the grace, speed and skill of the assassin she had inherited it from, had pulled a quartet of throwing knives and, with a flourish, flung them at one of the... things.

Pelm's knives whipped out quickly at the glynn, and although a couple of them went wide, one struck the creature in the leg and another in its chest. The glynn was, to say the least, surprised. But it focused itself on Pelm.

(Pelm deals a grand total of 24 damage. Pelm's at 23/28 TP.)

Meanwhile, another of the glynns focused on Siolen, aiming an arm at her and chanting under its breath. Siolen, of course, knew this was spell chanting, and when the beam came out of said glynn's hand, she tried to dodge.

However, her efforts were only partially successful, the beam grazing against her left arm.

(Siolen takes 20 damage from a partial resist. Intemera's turn. Hexboard has not changed at all.)

Having been paying attention to Pelm, the glynn was almost completely caught off guard by Intemera's trident going into its lower back. It hadn't even noticed Intemera until now, but it glared daggers at her....

....and meanwhile, the third glynn lifted itself slightly with its wings, and suddenly flung itself at Pelm. Luckily for the cat-in-angel's-body, she was able to get out of the glynn's way in time.

But in the meantime, Intemera's efforts with the trident and Pelm's knife barrage both caused Pelm to be flooded with mana. Immediately she realized that it was the bleeding she and Intemera had inflicted that was causing it for her.

(Intemera deals 19 damage. Rikkard's turn, and hexboard updated.

Edit - Realized I forgot something critical. Luckily I have a copy of the combat stats as they go, but in either case, Pelm has 21 "Blood MP" right now.)

Pelm stopped a moment after her skillful evasion as that familiar sensation came into her, warm and electrifying. Then she stopped for an entirely different reason: she had just realized something. Possibly something vital.

"Intemera..." she said in a rather small voice, "I hope this is not a bad time to ask... how your efforts at learning magic have gone...?"

Mentally, she was cursing. If Intemera had not any, she might be in trouble. Too vivid for her was the memory of fighting alongside that magic-dead idiot bastard mercenary who carried a big sword and nearly dying of mana overload. In fact, if it had not been for Shina, she would have perished, slowly and painfully.

As Rikkard started to focus his chi, the glynn that had been the target of choice whipped around toward Intemera, its fist clenched as it did.

And despite Intemera's best efforts, the glynn properly punched her in the chest, the force only partly softened by her leather breastplate. Forceful for a punch, but not as bad as some comparable blows.

Sucking in a deep breath, Siolen exhaled a blast of fire at the closest griffon. That ought to knock it off balance. Follow up with a crossbow bolt, and she'd soon be in a position to do something about the others...

"Eh, it is a... condition of mine. Nothing to worry about, really," Pelm explained dismissively, sprinting backwards from the Glynn to put a fair distance and Intemera between them before dropping to one knee, putting her hands together and concentrating.

As long as she could burn off the influx, she'd be perfectly fine. An ever-so-familiar ball of white energy formed between her hands as she called upon the powers of the holy plane to assist her. Shoving her palms out toward her previous assailant, the ball shot, expanded and narrowed, forming itself into a full-fledged beam.

(Pelm moves seven hexes to the south and southwest, ending up three hexes SW of Intemera, right next to the edge of the board, and casts Beam 2 on Glynn A)

Siolen's fire breath washed over the nearest glynn without much effect. However, it did elicit a reaction from the creature, who started fanning his face a bit.

"Dangit, lady, your breath is AWFUL!"

Meanwhile, Pelm's beam seared toward the glynn that she had backed away from.... and collided with the thing well enough, though it didn't seem to do anything. Pelm realized, in that moment, that they were dealing with creatures immune to holy magic.

The glynn that Siolen had used her fire breath on leapt at her, aiming a foot at her face, but she was able to move out of its way swiftly enough.

(Siolen's attack is resisted, Pelm's attack is ineffective due to holy immunity, and Siolen evades Glynn B's attack. Intemera's turn, and hexboard updated. I'll be reposting the link once every round.)

The glynn, however, saw Intemera's attack coming, and the gladiator found her punch stopped by both of the glynn's hands. It released the hand as soon as it had been stopped, not wanting to hold onto the hand for long.

Meanwhile, a different glynn, having had some pressure taken off by Pelm's retreat, focused itself on Rikkard. Hoping to catch him off guard, it focused its energy and unleashed it in a beam of light.

Luckily, Rikkard saw this coming, and he was able to nimbly get out of the way of the beam quite easily.

(Intemera's attack is parried and Glynn A's spell was resisted. Hexboard did not need update. And as luck would have it, it's Rikkard's turn right now.)

Pelm's eyes widened as she saw the Glynn take the blast head on, and was faced with the sudden realization that being with that they were chucking beams of their own around, they just might be holy creatures themselves, and so a good half of her training, not to mention her sword, was totally useless. To this realization, she gave a loud, unintelligible string of sounds which might have been another incantation. To anyone with a good grasp of Nekonian, however, it might sound more like an incredibly long rant of curses, mostly involving the offender's mother.

Now naturally, when something appears to be a holy creature, the thing to do is to use the other element. Which presented Pelm with a bit of a problem, as her skill with shadow magic was... less than adequate. Still, something was better than nothing, she figured, as she cupped her palms. Firey shadows appeared in them and she quickly tossed the bit of dark magic toward her impudent foe.

Rikkard slammed his foot hard against the glynn's shoulder, but despite the fact it had been subjected to so much trouble, it recovered from its blow enough to turn its attention toward Rikkard.

And it reached out a foot to try and kick him in the face, but the monk was simply too quick, ducking swiftly out of the way.

Meanwhile, Siolen fired her crossbow just before she got more or less behind Rikkard. And her bolt struck home, going hard into the creature's chest, but it looked like the bird would be taking a lot more abuse of that sort before it went down.

On the other side of the battlefield, Pelm, who didn't seem to have much trouble containing the mana that was flowing into her, unleashed her shadow flare. And it seemed to be heading toward the glynn alright.... before a sudden flash sent it back her way. Luckily she was able to evade it just in time.

The glynn that Siolen had shot her crossbow at, being dismayed by the cowardice of its opponent, hustled some distance to the other side, hoping to get the drop on Siolen... only to see Intemera. Rather disappointed with the fact that it had gone that far for nothing, it lowered its shoulder and rushed at Intemera, who proved a little too quick....

(Rikkard deals 32 damage, Siolen's attack deals 36 damage, and Pelm's spell critically failed. Also, Rikkard and Intemera successfully evade attacks. Pelm has 16 blood MP at this point as a note.
Hexboard updated. Intemera's turn - I left an ellipsis and didn't describe Intemera's evasion or reaction to the charge for that reason.)

Intemera swiftly dodges the attack, then, noticing she's in a position to be attacked by both glynn, dashes aside, incidentally opening up Pelm's line of fire. She then aims a kick at the glynn who is still near her.

This glynn, however, saw Intemera's attack coming, and had its hands ready.

When Intemera's foot reached high enough that it would have hit the glynn's chest, it simply backed up and slammed both of its hands together onto the leg, leaving the limb in a fair degree of pain. Luckily for Intemera, the leg didn't break.

(Intemera takes 13 subdual damage as part of a critical miss.)

Meanwhile, the only glynn that had stayed back jumped into the fray, running at Siolen with a fist forward. Luckily, she was able to easily avoid the punch with a little movement.

Rikk considered the situation carefully, appraising his opponets, and his allies. It didn't seem that the glynns would be going down easily, so it seemed that a little more force would be necessary, and possibly something that would leave the glynns a bit more open...

Even as he was thinking, he was stepping close to the glynn on his left, preparing to kick him... twice. The moves that would follow that were already flashing through his mind.

The deity above imagined these sounds in his head as, below, Rikkard's whirlwind kick dealt blow after devastating blow to the glynn.

This was only further accentuated by the final kick in the series, sending the glynn flying back.... into his ally, who got slammed into hard and knocked off HIS feet as well.

What Rikkard failed to take into account was that Intemera was behind that second glynn. Luckily, her armor took the blow, but she was still knocked off her feet.

The first glynn, meanwhile, decided not to get up, but instead to concentrate and launch a beam at his assailant. It proved to be useless, as Rikkard easily stepped above and around the beam as it came by.

(Rikkard deals 114 damage to Glynn C, and 12 damage to Glynn B as a result of collision damage. Intemera takes no damage, but until her turn (when she can get up, as a free action due to a good roll), she suffers a -3/-3 AT/PA penalty. So do the two glynn that are prone.

Seeing that two of the Glynn were down and stunned, Siolen decided to take the opportunity to finish one of them off. Circling around Rikkard for a clear shot, she took careful aim and fired at the closer of the two, aiming to plant the bolt right between its eyes.

The bad news was that her shot was a little off. The good news was that her shot hit the base of the glynn's neck. And it was enough to make the glynn's head hit the ground, effectively dead.

However, this shooting and the wounds it was opening up were starting to cause trouble for Pelm. She realized with horror that she'd start feeling sick from all this mana if any more of it came into her.

(Siolen deals 40 damage, killing the glynn although it made its 'survival' roll. Pelm's blood MP is full, thanks to the crossbow bolts from both this round and the previous round. Though it was right on full, so she does not lose any HP, although she will if any more gets spilled.

Luckily, it's her turn, so she can dump off some of that mana. Which I highly suggest doing. Hexboard updated.)

Pelm reacted to this sudden burst of energy and the realization that accompanied it in the way she always did: dumping the potential excess off on someone else. And the closest person was... Siolen, luckily. Focusing, little blue and yellow wisps of energy separated themselves from her as they streamed like fireworks into Siolen. Obviously her skill with this spell had improved since she had used it in her attempts to teach the magical arts to Intemera.

(Pelm uses 3 TP to transfer 18 MP to Siolen. It should overload him a bit, unfortunately.)

Intemera's trident plunged into the glynn over and over, spilling plenty of blood in the process.

Pelm didn't even have to watch to know this was the case. Intemera's first stab into the glynn made Pelm feel the warm sensation she was so familiar with. The second one made her start to feel dizzy. The third and fourth stabs were so much that they simply caused her to vomit. She was taking in way too much to handle.

Meanwhile, the other standing glynn skirted around Rikkard, trying again to punch Siolen. And again, his effort was in vain, as Siolen simply evaded.

(Intemera deals 104 damage to the glynn. Pelm's blood MP is full and she has taken 34 damage from excess mana flowing into her, putting her at 33/67 HP. This overload I somehow saw coming.

"Magic. Isn't. Working." Siolen said, directing a glare at Pelm as she readied another crossbow bolt. They'd certainly had no luck with it so far. And these things were far too dangerous to mess about with. She intended to take them down as quickly as possible.